Background Check Services

Services Offered by Background Check Companies

Background screenings save time, money, embarrassment, and costly mistakes. Business background checks provide information on a company’s reliability and solvency. Employment screening identifies potential problems of absenteeism, dishonesty, or drug use. Personal investigations turn up useful facts that could warn of potential fraud or infidelities.

Criminal background checks provide evidence of dishonesty, violent tendencies, or sexual abuse. Governments throughout the country require screenings to identify pedophiles or people with questionable characters. Many states require investigation of employment applicants for sensitive positions. These jobs include working with children, medical patients, or vulnerable, disabled or elderly people. Financial services, government positions, or people with access to confidential information must often pass intensive background investigations.

Choice of Investigating Firms

Numerous firms conduct forms of background screenings at many different levels of thoroughness. Advanced search technology and multiple government, commercial, and private databases have facilitated industry growth. Private individuals, small businesses, and major corporations authorize checks for many useful reasons.

Consumers can order a single inquiry or buy a membership that entitles them to multiple checks. The price depends on the company, type of check, and whether an individual has a membership. Some checks only use computers, but many companies employ qualified investigators to supervise the gathering of data.

Types of Background Checks

Information included in background checks depends on the investigating company’s internal policy and the level of service customers select.

• Employment background checks
  Applicants often lie or embellish the truth when seeking a job. People alter employment dates, work record, qualifications, job responsibilities, and reasons for changing jobs. Dishonesty on the application not only covers up essential hiring information but also proves applicants are untrustworthy.
  • Employment checks confirm dates of employment and essential personal information such as Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses, residential history, and other key facts.
  • Criminal checks show any history of incarceration, outstanding warrants, or pending legal actions.
  • Reports might include arrests that have been dropped or resulted in a not guilty verdict.
  • Driving records could be included if employees must drive while working.
  • Credit checks often prove that applicants have sound judgment, which often tips the scales in one direction. Positions that require handling money or confidential information often require credit checks.
• Workers’ compensation claims
  Some people commit insurance fraud by claiming injuries on the job. Other people just have bad luck or work carelessly. Histories of work compensation claims often shed light on an applicant’s suitability for dangerous work.
• Business background inquiries
  Inquiries about companies can benefit consumers and businesses. People shopping for services often require high degrees of professionalism or ethics. Investigations reveal how financially secure a company might be, whether it has legal entanglements, and how many consumer complaints it receives. Companies often investigate potential partners, associates, affiliates, or suppliers to determine their reliability.
• Personal background checks
  Personal background checks provide useful information for landlords, lovers, and private citizens. Background screenings can research the composition of neighborhoods to identify sexual predators in the vicinity. Tenant checks might include civil cases in court, job histories, and past living accommodations.
  • People often should investigate their love interests to uncover useful information about their finances, criminal histories, mental and physical health, marriage histories, and whether they have children.
  • People often order their own credit histories. The information could contain inaccuracies, or someone else could be misusing information for fraudulent purposes.
• Credit record check
  Credit histories prove useful for employers, landlords, lenders, insurance companies, business associates, or significant others. The information not only establishes financial fitness but also indicates reliability.
• Finding missing persons
  Locating missing persons, family members, or childhood friends used to cost a good deal of money and required hiring a private investigator. National databases and computer efficiency result in quick, inexpensive searches. Determined individuals can locate birth parents, military buddies, missing children, or former sweethearts.
• Checking student or international credentials
  Background checks to verify student claims and degrees or international certifications satisfy many private and business needs.Most background check companies offer basic, moderate, and comprehensive investigation options. Basic reports usually include local criminal records checks, driving records, job verifications, and name, address, and phone number confirmations.Advanced options include national and international criminal records checks, detailed employment and reference verification, credit records, real estate purchases, business filings, civil actions, marriage records, spending habits, and other private information. Private investigators often conduct special investigations.